Ajna Lens: Stepping into the Metaverse Metaverse will be a game changer to upskill and train the youth, making them more employable. The training enabled by Metaverse can help the students/ individuals to improve their skills, and practice the modules unlimited times, without worrying about cost, time or availability of equipment.
By Kavya Pillai
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In 2014, CEO Pankaj Raut co-founded AjnaLens which has a current revenue of INR 10 Cr and entered the world of metaverse by conceptualizing and building a one-stop solution for skill training. They have developed their Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality and Mixed Reality products that unlock the true potential of Metaverse and enable 'Phygital' (Physical +Digital) Training in India. They are looking at a holographic future wherein a person need not have to be present physically at any location, rather his/her avatar can be teleported to any location and can express, and interact with people.
The next step is to provide phygital experience to facilitate immersive collaborative learning. These learners will be able to connect with their teachers and fellow students in a virtual but life-like environment, be it a classroom set-up or the factory floor wherever the skill is to be performed.
Metaverse will be a game changer to upskill and train the youth, making them more employable. The training enabled by Metaverse can help the students/ individuals to improve their skills, and practice the modules unlimited times, without worrying about cost, time or availability of equipment. They can be trained on the most advanced tools, machines and processes which they couldn't get access to earlier. The company's VR simulator, AjnaXR Station, is equipped with real-time data analytics to map the growth of the trainees and share AI-generated personalized recommendations to level up their skills.
AjnaXR Station is a scalable VR training solution which is manufactured and assembled in India. With the help of Tata Technologies, they have deployed 300 AjnaXR Stations in the Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) of Karnataka where approximately 18,000 students will be trained every year. AjnaLens has also developed specific training modules for corporates such as L&T, Mahindra, Vedanta, etc who are now training their workforce.
Recently, AjnaLens has also introduced haptic gloves (AjnaSparsh) to provide
an immersive experience to the trainee. With the help of these gloves, the user can virtually touch and feel the object and interact in the most intuitive way possible. The Ajna Creator Program is India's First Metaverse training program and is uniquely designed to train and upskill the youth of India.
100+ students are learning about metaverse and creating immersive experiences. AjnaLens aims to provide hands-on learning of all the key components of a metaverse like AR/ VR, NFT, Digital Twin, Blockchain and more. Currently, 200+ students and professionals are learning the course in just the first 2 months of launching.
In the constantly changing marketplace, the needs of all stakeholders are changing - be it your customers, employees, vendors, partners or investors. There are multiple challenges that the AR/VR and Metaverse Industries are facing. First is the lack of awareness of technology and its use cases. The second challenge is the high prices of headsets for large-scale development.
Lastly, the lack of skilled talent who can build 3D applications is a major challenge. For the future, AjnaLens is striving to touch the lives of 3 lakh people in the next two years by upskilling them rapidly and making them job-ready. Alongside they are planning to raise the Series A round of funding in the year 2023.
